Being made redundant: from 'the writing on the wall' to 'a bolt from the blue' - 'being disposed of' as a human tragedy

Vickers, M. and Parris, Melissa Anne 2004, Being made redundant: from 'the writing on the wall' to 'a bolt from the blue' - 'being disposed of' as a human tragedy, in ANZAM 2004 : Proceedings of the 18th Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, 8-11 December 2004, Dunedin, New Zealand, University of Otago, [Dunedin, N.Z.].

This paper focuses on the experience of being made redundant. A qualitative study conducted in Australia involved phenomenological, in-depth interviews with middle- and senior-level executives. Ten respondents were interviewed about their experiences of being made redundant. What is evident from their stories is a clear passage of "being disposed of" differing only in whether their fate was evident prior to their disposal - "the writing on the wall" - or whether it was a complete shock - "a bolt from the blue". Ultimately, whether respondents knew what was coming or not, the process was often shocking, hurtful, humiliating, and harsh. Many respondents reported going through the process of being made redundant more than once. All believed it could have been handled better.

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